Remember back in the day when
consumers
used rack brochures and travel agents to book their hotel stays?
Remember when Minimum
Length Of Stay
(MLOS) and stay patterns was
the
only way to deal with unconstrained demand to try to control our
revenues and
occupancy?

Times have definitely changed since the
days when MLOS and stay patterns were the norm for revenue managers.
Back in
the day, it was impossible to use flexible pricing because revenue
management
technology wasn't sophisticated enough and the Internet was not yet in
existence. But today, times have definitely changed. While MLOS can be
useful
for special events or big-ticket days (like New Year's Eve), MLOS and stay
patterns aren't the best revenue management strategies for day-to-day
use in
today's online, highly competitive market.

Still not convinced?
Here's some very
important reasons for hoteliers to shift away from MLOS restrictions
for their
day-to-day revenue management, and instead, adopt flexible pricing
using
sophisticated revenue management technology.

The Internet, the Internet.
MLOS was created
before the invention of the online travel agencies (OTAs) and the
resulting
change in consumer booking habits. It's an outdated system that for the
most
part doesn¹t work with today¹s technology (the good
technologies).

You're inconveniencing the
customer. If I'm a consumer
and I want to stay at your hotel for three nights and I'm told that the
minimum
stay is four days, you can be sure that I would take my business
elsewhere.
Since the OTAs give consumers the ability to see/experience hundreds of
hotels
in every destination, there is no shortage of competition so I may be
willing
to pay premium rates for my three-night stay but I will never book the
four
nights (because I can only stay for four nights)!

You're decreasing your online
visibility. We're all familiar
with the billboard effect. Contrary to popular belief, having a MLOS
does not
persuade a consumer to book the extra night to meet the requirement. If
a
consumer is looking for a hotel for a three-day stay, and your
property's MLOS
is four days, your property will not show up in their OTA search
results. In
short, you're blocking your own property from potential guests and
killing your
billboard effect.

MLOS Rules for 2013
If you are going to use MLOS for special
events, use them sparingly. Don't just load a four-night MLOS for all
dates,
instead, try balancing the demand through pricing and if you really
need to
apply restrictions for any of the dates, make sure they are a
reflection of the
respective level of demand for that date. By focusing on longer stays,
sometimes hoteliers miss out on single night bookings that could fill
inventory
gaps during shoulder dates. Not to mention the price hikes that may
occur due
to lower category rooms not being available for the full length of stay
period.
This can automatically bump your pricing way above the market.

Day-to-day, a sophisticated,
algorithm-based revenue management system that collects and analyzes
data, and
provides rate recommendations in real-time as the factors in the market
change
is the best solution for consistent financial success. These systems
allow you
to control your rates and occupancy as needed, boost your revenues and
free up
valuable time to concentrate on the big picture (no more never-ending
calculations)!

So what are you waiting for? Start the New
Year out right with revenue management technology more suitable for the
market
in 2013!

Jean Francois
Mourier is CEO and Founder of REVPAR
GURU, a
company that provides hotels around the world with an alternative
revenue management
software system designed to deliver maximum bookings and profits.
You can reach Jean
Francois
through www.revparguru.com
or by
calling 1.786.478.3500.